Of Moonlight and Moonshine
by reaper with no name
Summary: Yin and alcohol: a combination Hei will never forget. Hei/Yin


For what seemed like the hundredth time, Kiko had forcibly dragged Yin out of her shop to "hang out". Usually, the two of them would end up reading manga or watching anime together (or rather, Yin would listen, and Kiko would talk about what was going on), but this time Kiko took her shopping. She didn't particularly mind.

However, by the time the two were finished, night had fallen. Normally, Kiko allowed Yin to go home at this time. However, on this occasion she brought Yin to a place she had never been before. It sounded like a restaurant, but Yin could smell nothing but alcohol.

"What is this place?" she asked.

Kiko looked at Yin strangely. "Are you kidding me, Kirsi? It's a bar!"

"Yin."

Kiko waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Yin, Kirsi, whatever. Now come on! I managed to get a fake ID made for you, too! So we can both drink!"

Before Yin could respond, Kiko had sat her down at the bar counter and ordered two Doburokus.

Yin smelled the concoction carefully.

"Oh, come on! It's not gonna be that bad. It's just like that…What do you call it in Europe? Moonshine, I think? Yeah, it's like that. Now drink up!"

Yin knew nothing about alcohol or moonshine or this "doburoku". However, it appeared she had little choice in the matter. She raised the glass to her lips…

* * *

It was very unusual for Yin to be absent from her shop during the night hours, so when Mao discovered her missing, he took it upon himself to investigate. Contrary to popular belief, cats were every bit as capable as dogs when it came to scent-tracking.

The trail led him to an old run-down bar. Knowing that Yin wouldn't be caught dead in such a place, he continued past it. But after he did so, his eyes widened as the trail grew colder. Backing up a few steps, Mao noticed the trail grow hotter again. Confused, Mao jumped onto a windowsill and looked into the bar. What he saw inside nearly caused his eyeballs to pop out of their sockets.

In a panic, Mao jumped down and high-tailed it towards Hei's apartment. He was going to need backup on this one.

* * *

Hei wasn't able to get any details out of Mao about the current situation except that it involved Yin and that he wouldn't need his gear. But despite that, it was apparently drastic enough that Hei had to stop his stargazing and come immediately. Still, the panic in Mao's voice and the fact that Yin was involved was more than enough to convince Hei to follow as Mao led him quickly to an old bar.

"In there!" Mao exclaimed. "Hurry!"

Hei didn't hesitate as he threw open the door. Inside were a group of people crowded around the bar counter (some of whom Hei recognized, such as the pink-haired girl and that police woman he knew). But what really caught his eye was the reason for the ruckus: a young, silver-haired girl drunkenly dancing on the bar counter.

* * *

Outside on the windowsill, Mao stared at the strange scene that had unfolded. He simply didn't know what to make of it. He had never heard of a Doll becoming drunk. Of course, it made sense from a physiological point of view, yet at the same time, the very idea that this could even happen-

"Boo!"

"Mrrrrroooowwww!"

Mao jumped at the sudden sound. In return for his trouble, he received a bump on the head when his skull impacted the edge of the roof. But instead of landing on the hard concrete, he fell into the waiting arms of his attacker.

She giggled. "Aw, did I scare you, Mao?"

Mao looked up and saw lime-green hair. He only knew of one person with hair that color…

"Amber!"

She smiled. "Yep!"

"What are you doing here?!"

"Watching the fun, what else?" Amber put Mao back down onto the windowsill and showed off a camera.

"The what?"

"Shh! It's about to start!"

* * *

Meanwhile, inside, Hei blinked. This had to be a dream. Or at least a hallucination of some sort. An obviously-intoxicated Yin was dancing on the bar counter. Half the patrons seemed to be cheering her on (including that pink-haired girl), while other (more sober) patrons such as Misaki tried to convince the girl to stop before she broke her neck.

"Come on, Misaki, haven't you ever dealt with a drunk before?!" Kanami Ishizaki asked as she tried to coax Yin to come down.

"Not while they were spinning around on a bar counter!" Misaki shot back.

"Yeah! Keep it up, Yin!" Kiko encouraged.

"You're not helping!" Misaki yelled.

As for Yin herself…Well, her eyes were as blank as ever, but her body had never seemed more alive. She twirled around like a ballerina and tapped her feet against the countertop, oblivious of the pleas for her to stop. And as Yin's body did yet another unbalanced spin, her dress fluttered upwards and outwards, revealing some things that were not meant to be revealed.

The shock of discovering that Yin's undergarments matched her eye color snapped Hei out of his daze. He pushed the bar's patrons out of the way as he approached the counter.

"Yin! What are you doing?! Get down from there!"

Somehow, his voice cut through the cacophony of noise, and Yin stopped.

"Hei…?"

She began to turn to him, but at just that moment she finally lost her fragile grasp on balance, and she fell. Fortunately, it was towards Hei, and he managed to catch her in his arms.

Several patrons breathed a sigh of relief, while others began returning to their seats. Hei stood there with Yin in his arms, trying to figure out the situation.

"Yin, what happened? Why were you-"

Yin tried to silence him by slowly raising a finger and trying to bring it to his lips. She missed, but the action itself confused Hei enough to achieve her aim. The two stared at one another for a moment, and then Yin wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yin…?"

Her face and eyes still blank, Yin pulled herself to Hei's face and captured his lips with hers.

Misaki and Kiko's jaws dropped.

"Kirsi, how could you?!" Kiko cried.

Kanami smiled and whispered into the speechless Misaki's ear "See, now, if you had been drinking, that could have been you."

Misaki's shock was so great that she couldn't even form the proper words for a retort.

* * *

Outside, Mao's hair was practically standing on end from what he was witnessing. Even the flash from Amber's camera couldn't bring his mind back into focus.

"Yes! I got it!" Amber celebrated, holding up her camera. "Don't they look so cute?"

When Mao didn't respond, Amber poked his ear. Still, he remained frozen.

"Wow. You look like you've just seen a ghost. Oh, well, I should probably get going anyway. See you around, kitty."

With that, Amber left for parts unknown. Mao was in too much shock to even see what direction she went in.

* * *

But no one's shock was greater than that of Hei himself. He stood motionless even after Yin's lips finally released his. She watched him for a moment with uncharacteristically amused eyes before her arms became limp and she passed out in Hei's arms.

This finally brought Hei back to reality, and his eyes scanned the room. All was silent as the bar's occupants stared at him.

"…That did not happen," Hei finally said, in a way much more forceful than he intended. It seemed to work, however, because most of the clientele returned to whatever they had been doing before the excitement.

Unfortunately, now he had to get her home.

"Um…" Hei began in his more subdued "Li" tone, "Does anyone have a car? Her home is a ways off from here, and I don't think I can carry her that far."

Kiko did a double take. "Wait, you know her?!"

"Yeah, I…Uh, walk by her shop sometimes," Hei lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. He did walk by her shop quite often, but it was never because he was on his way to somewhere else. "Plus, she's a friend of a friend."

"So…She's not your girlfriend, then?" Misaki asked.

"What? No, no. Of course not," Hei shook his head.

"All right, well, I have a car. I suppose I could give you two a ride," Misaki offered, blushing a little.

"Oh, that'd be great. Thanks," Hei accepted.

Kanami grinned as the three left while Kiko stared daggers into Misaki's back.

* * *

When Hei finally returned to his apartment, he discovered a photo on his bed. It was of the kiss. Taped to the back was a lime-green hair and a handwritten message saying "You two make such a cute couple, don't you think? I approve. -A"

Hei wasn't sure what Amber was trying to accomplish with this, but if this was supposed to be a threat, then Hei was not going to take it lying down. Amber had already gone after Yin once, and there was no way Hei was going to let her do it again. He would die before he let anything happen to Yin.

Grabbing his equipment, Hei set out once again for Yin's shop. If necessary, he would call in sick to his part-time job in the morning. Tonight, the only thing that mattered was making sure Yin stayed safe.

* * *

The next morning, Huang, Mao, and Yin met at the playground. Hei had spent the night watching over Yin, and as a result was now making up for lost sleep.

Naturally, the topic of conversation today was Yin's adventure the night before.

"See? This is why I said it was a bad idea to let Yin get involved with that girl."

"Huang, I don't think that's fair. After all, it doesn't seem like Yin had such a bad time, right Yin?"

Yin nodded.

"That's because she doesn't remember what happened!" Huang pressed.

Yin shook her head. Both saw the action out of the corner of their eye and slowly turned their heads toward her in perfect synchronization.

"Wait…You DO remember what happened last night?" Huang asked incredulously.

Yin nodded.

"And you don't mind it?" Mao added.

Yin nodded again.

Mao and Huang stared at Yin for a moment, then at each other. Neither could think of a thing to say. As a result, they missed the subtle hints of a smile that graced Yin's face.

* * *

Author's Note: Doburoku is a type of home-brewed sake often compared to moonshine, despite the fact that it's technically not a distilled liquor. It's also supposedly very potent.


End file.
